Libel on the Internet

“If someone insulted you in a pub, would you sue the pub owner for housing the defamatory remark?” “The post office is not responsible for defamatory letters and telephone operators cannot be blamed for defamatory faxes. So why should Internet Service Providers be treated differently?” These are questions posed by Adam Taylor, a partner in Withers, in an article in The Independent of 4 April following the settlement by Demon of a claim by Dr Laurence Godfrey for ‘squalid, obscene and defamatory remarks about Dr Godfrey on an Internet news group. Dr Godfrey had sent a fax to Demon’s managing director telling him that a posting to a US newsgroup purporting to be from him was a forgery but the offending item was not removed. In addition to paying £15,000 damages Demon apologised and agreed to pay Dr Godfrey’s costs. According to Matt Kelly in The Mirror of 7 April, as a result of the case at least four sites, including that of Kamlesh Bahl, the former vice-president of the Law Society, have been shut down instantly as the result of one-off complaints.